Norvège

This country policy profile on education in Norway is part of the Education Policy Outlook series. Building on the first policy profile for Norway (2013), it offers a concise analysis of where the education system stands today in terms of strengths, challenges and ongoing policy efforts, and how this compares to other systems. The profile brings together over a decade’s worth of policy analysis by the Education Policy Outlook, as well as the latest OECD data, relevant thematic and country-specific work and other international and national evidence. It also offers analysis of the Norwegian education system’s initial responses to the COVID-19 crisis and provides insight into approaches to building greater responsiveness and resilience for the future.

The work of early childhood education and care (ECEC) professionals is the major driver of the quality of an ECEC system. As evidence accumulates on the strong benefits of investing in early education, countries need effective policies to attract, maintain and retain a highly skilled workforce in the sector. This report looks at the makeup of the early childhood education and care workforce across countries, assessing how initial preparation programmes compare across different systems, what types of in-service training and informal learning activities help staff to upgrade their skills, and what staff say about their working conditions, as well as identifying policies that can reduce staff stress levels and increase well-being at work. The report also looks at which leadership and managerial practices in ECEC centres contribute to improving the skills, working conditions and working methods of staff. The OECD Starting Strong Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS Starting Strong) is the first international survey that focuses on the early childhood education and care workforce. It offers an opportunity to learn about the characteristics of ECEC staff and centre leaders, their practices at work, and their views on the profession and the sector. This second volume of findings, Building a High-Quality Early Childhood Education and Care Workforce, examines factors that influence the skills development of ECEC professionals, their working conditions and well-being at work, and leadership in ECEC centres.

In 2017, the Government of Norway introduced a new competence development model for schools, to provide municipalities and schools with greater freedom of action and empower them to carry out systematic school improvement. This model has the potential to promote collective teacher professionalism, but requires a carefully thought out implementation strategy to yield positive results. From 2018, the OECD partnered with Norway to support this implementation process, and undertook an initial assessment of the implementation strategy of the model (Improving School Quality in Norway: The New Competence Development Model, 2019). In the meantime, the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training has kept on co-shaping the model with universities and education stakeholders at the regional and local level. This new report assesses progress made, and makes further recommendations to move forward with the model development. The report will be valuable not only for Norway, but also to the many countries that are looking to promote school-based professional development and bridge the gap between policy design and effective implementation.

La révolution technologique qui a marqué les dernières décennies du XXe siècle a entraîné une forte augmentation de la demande de facultés de traitement de l’information et d’autres compétences cognitives et interpersonnelles sur le marché du travail. Sur la base des résultats des 33 pays et régions ayant participé aux deux premières vagues de l'Enquête sur les compétences des adultes en 2011-12 et 2014-15, ce rapport décrit les compétences dans trois domaines de traitement de l'information et examine comment les compétences sont liées au marché du travail et aux résultats sociaux. Il décrit notamment les résultats des six pays ayant participé à la troisième vague du premier cycle du PIAAC en 2017-18 (Équateur, États-Unis, Hongrie, Kazakhstan, Mexique et Pérou). L’Évaluation des compétences des adultes, un produit du Programme de l’OCDE pour l’évaluation internationale des compétences des adultes (PIAAC), a été conçue pour montrer dans quelle mesure les individus possèdent certaines de ces facultés et compétences clés et comment ils les utilisent dans le cadre professionnel et dans la vie privée. Cette enquête, la première du genre, évalue directement le niveau de compétence dans trois domaines du traitement de l’information : la littératie, la numératie et la résolution de problèmes.

The experience of children under age 3 with early childhood education and care (ECEC) is crucial for their learning, development and well-being and for parents’ return to work. Despite increasing recognition of the importance of ECEC for the youngest children, little is known about this sector. The OECD Starting Strong Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS Starting Strong) is the first international survey that focuses on the ECEC workforce. It asks staff and leaders about themselves and their settings, including the practices they use with children and their views on the sector. This thematic report focusses on ECEC for children under age 3, an option of the Survey in which four countries (Denmark, Germany, Israel and Norway) participated. The report answers many questions that are important for parents, actors in the field, and policy makers.

This edition of the Reader’s Companion accompanies Skills Matter: Additional Results from the Survey of Adult Skills that reports the results from the 39 countries and regions that participated in the 3 rounds of data collection in the first cycle of PIAAC, with a particular focus on the 6 countries that participated in the third round of the study (Ecuador, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Peru and the United States). It describes the design and methodology of the survey and its relationship to other international assessments of young students and adults. The Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), was designed to provide insights into the availability of some key skills in society and how they are used at work and at home. The first survey of its kind, it directly measures proficiency in several information-processing skills – namely literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments.

Norway is committed to a high quality and equitable education system, as demonstrated by its high level of public expenditure on education and the dynamic policy activity targeting education quality. Despite progress made in enhancing average student performance in recent years, there still are significant differences between schools in municipalities and between municipalities and regions. In response, Norway has started to implement the new competence development model that sets out to develop teacher professionalism with in-service professional development. With this new policy, the Government of Norway aims to provide municipalities and schools with greater freedom of action and empower them to carry out systematic school improvements at the local level. This decentralised approach would respond to local context and the diversity of needs between Norwegian schools. This report aims to support Norway in this effort, analysing the features of the new model, the engagement of the different stakeholders and the policy context for its introduction. Building on the OECD implementation framework, the report proposes concrete actions to adapt the implementation strategy for impact. The report will be valuable not only for Norway, but also to the many countries that are looking to promote school-based professional development and bridge the gap between policy design and effective implementation.

The higher education system in Norway generally produces graduates with good skills and labour market outcomes. This success can be largely attributed to Norway’s robust and inclusive labour market and recent higher education reforms to improve quality. However, some Norwegian students have poor labour market outcomes and past success is no guarantee of future success, especially as the Norwegian economy upskills and diversifies. This report provides advice and recommendations to improve the labour market relevance and the outcomes of higher education in Norway. The analysis finds that there is an opportunity to expand work-based learning opportunities, improve career guidance, and do a better job of using innovative learning and teaching practices to improve labour market relevance across the system. The report concludes that Norwegian policy makers have a larger role to play in steering the system. Policy makers can set the conditions for greater labour market relevance by strengthening the mechanism for collaboration between higher education institutions and employers, ensuring better coordination and use of labour market information, and redoubling efforts to support quality learning and teaching. This report was developed as part of the OECD Enhancing Higher Education System Performance project.